


Christmas on the Normandy

by hayllyn



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Christmas, F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-05
Updated: 2012-12-05
Packaged: 2017-11-20 10:11:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/584226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hayllyn/pseuds/hayllyn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Because sometimes, a holiday celebration is just good for the soul.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Christmas on the Normandy

The Normandy had been docked on the Citadel for nearly 53 hours.  Normally, this would be a very, very bad sign- the Council attempting to lay down the law on Shepard, or the physical inability for the Normandy to take off would really have been the only two things keeping Joker from pulling out, but this time was different.   
Of course, Joker and EDI had been in on it since Day 1, and so had Chakwas.  Shepard had to rally some assistance, there would have been no way for her to decorate the entire Normandy by herself.  They'd decided to have their get-together in the mess hall, where there was plenty of space and the fewest sharp objects on which people could impale themselves if they started falling over drunk- Chakwas assured the Commander that she made a mean eggnog, and after the Serrice Ice, who was Shepard to disagree?  
They'd decorated all night, though it was with great difficulty that Shepard convinced Thane to go to bed without her, and it took even more work to convince Garrus that his calibrations could wait until morning.  Luckily for them, Liara almost never left her room, so when they asked EDI to disable the scientist's doors for a few hours to contain the surprise… Well, Liara never mentioned it.   
Shepard didn't ask any details about how Joker had come up with a plastic tree, though the questions were eating her alive inside.  She hadn't seen a Christmas Tree in nearly two decades, and that one belonged to her grandmother, and was always pre-decorated.  She'd never had one that she could decorate herself.  Moving from base to base with her Military parents didn't always afford her the small pleasures.    
After much begging, something that Joker never thought he'd hear from the Galaxy's first human Spectre, he reluctantly agreed to allow her to decorate the tree.  Once she'd scrambled off to the cargo bay to grab a few knick knacks to decorate with, he off-handedly told Chakwas that he'd already planned to let her decorate, but he couldn't pass up the opportunity to hear Shepard beg.  
A couple of hours and a few glasses of Chakwas' eggnog later, Shepard decided that it was time to wake the crew.   
"EDI," she announced with her hands on her hips, as she surveyed the room, "sound the battle alarm!"  
"Yes, Commander."  
Suddenly, the sounds of a classic Christmas tune began to fill the Normandy's quiet halls.  Shepard had grown up on the classics.  Chakwas had been horrified to discover that when the Commander said "Classics," she actually meant "Ancient music from the twentieth century."  As the sounds of 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas' faded and EDI's voice commanded that all crew report to the Mess Hall immediately, the Doctor leaned over to Shepard.  
"What album did you say this was, again?"  
"N'Sync's Greatest Christmas Hits," Shepard replied with stars in her eyes.  "My mom used to play it when she was stationed in the Horse Head Nebula."  
Liara was, of course, the first to arrive.  She was fully dressed and fully armed as she stepped through the door into the hall, holding her gun in front of her with one hand and looking poised for a full on Biotic Attack with the other.  She relaxed a bit as she saw the four of them standing there, Shepard looking particularly pleased with herself.   
"Merry Christmas, Liara!" the Commander said.   
"Christmas," Liara questioned.  "We're- celebrating Christmas now?"  Shepard nodded.  "But what about the Re-"  
"Don't," Shepard cut her off.  The others had started filtering in from the Crew's Quarters, with Lt. Vega leading the way.  "Don't, Liara, please."  Shepard bowed her head and looked at her hands, momentarily examining the plethora of scars which covered the majority of her exposed skin.  "We all know what we're facing- what the entire Galaxy is facing- but right now?  Right now, this is what's real.  This is what's happening.  I'll be damned if I'm going to let Christmas go by without spending it with the people I care about."  
Liara set her gun down on the nearby counter and crossed the room to the Commander.  "Merry Christmas, Shepard."  She wrapped her arms around Shepard and held her tight as her crew began throwing around "Merry Christmases" to each other.   
"Merry Christmas, Lola," Vega said as he walked up next to Shepard and Liara, taking them both in his massive arms.  "Hey- do Asari even celebrate Christmas?"  
"No," Liara admitted.  "But that's not going to stop me from enjoying myself."    
"Chakwas make her eggnog?"  
"Yes," Shepard replied, her voice muffled by Vega's glorious pecs, which her face was accidentally buried in.  
James released them both and took a step back, turning away from them and throwing his arms in the air.  "Yo, Esteban- we can finally get that drink I owe you!"  
Liara looked at Shepard once more and smiled.  "I can see why you thought this would be a good idea.  You're a good leader, Shepard.  I'd follow you anywhere."  She saluted the Commander and turned to see Traynor standing behind her holding a drink out to her with a shy smile.   
Chakwas was handing out eggnogs like her life depended on it, and looked like she was completely in her element.  Shepard smiled  at the woman who'd been the closest thing to her mother for the past few years.  She'd have a few bottles of Brandy waiting for her in the med bay when she returned to work in the morning.   
Thane was standing in the corner, and her eyes found him immediately.  He was stoic, as usual, surveying from a distance.  He bowed his head to Shepard and she flashed him a quick smile as she was approached by Daniels and Donnelly, who were raving about feeling like they were back home again.   
"I mean, you did a good job with what you had," Donnelly said with a shrug.  "It was a good effort, I guess."  
Daniels buried her face in her hand and grabbed Donnelly by the arm, pulling him away.  "Merry Christmas, Commander," she said over her shoulder as she dragged him away.  
She took a quick look around the room and immediately found Garrus and Tali standing by the table, staring in confusion at the Christmas tree.  Shepard grabbed a drink from the counter and walked to Garrus' side and leaned against the table.  
"You look confused, Vakarian," she said.  "Never seen a Christmas Tree before?"  
"Are those-"  
"Used heat sinks!" Shepard beamed.  "Yes, they are."  
Garrus smiled and put an arm around her shoulder.  "You sure know how to make a Turian feel at home."  
"Keelah," Tali chimed in.  "Shepard- you must have put a lot of work into this.  It doesn't even feel like the Normandy! It feels like a proper home!"  
Shepard smiled.  "Normally I'd be offended that you think the Normandy doesn't feel like home, but I think I know what you mean.  Thanks, Tali."  
"Ladies, ladies," Garrus said as he wrapped his free arm around Tali's waist.  "It feels like home because Vakarian's here."  
Both women laughed as Shepard shook herself free of her best friend's arm.    
"Careful, Tali.  The only thing that one loves more than himself is his sniper rifle."  
"That's okay, Shepard," Tali said with a shrug.  "There are a lot of things that I like more than Vakarian.  Like being shot."  
"You wound me, Tali,"  Garrus said jokingly.  
"And you'd kill me if I took my suit off, I think that makes us even."  
Shepard smiled and turned her back on the two of them just as Garrus dipped Tali into an embrace that would have had even the harshest Elcor critics in hysterics.  
All around her, her friends and crew were buzzing with conversation and laughter, swapping stories, singing along with the Christmas songs (learning as they went), and embracing each other.  There were no misconceptions about the uncertainty that they faced- but no one seemed to be determined to let it ruin their evening.  
No one, that was, except their resident Prothean.    
"Commander."  
She turned to face the man, who was looking even more unpleasant than usual.  "Javik… heyyyyyy."  Shepard looked down at her empty glass.  Maybe she should have better heeded Chakwas' warning.  She shrugged and looked up at Javik, who was now even closer, and all four of his eyes (and eight of his pupil… things) were looking down at her judgmentally.  
"Shepard.  This is foolishness," he said firmly, throwing his arm out and pointing at Cortez and Vega, who were doing shots with Traynor and Liara.  "I do not approve of this.  There are Reapers to fight, Commander.  They are not taking time off, and neither should we."  
Shepard put her hand on Javik's shoulder reassuringly.  "Don't worry about it, Javik, the Reapers will still be there tomorrow.  Relaaaaax," she said with a smile.  "Besides, a bit of celebration is good for the soul.  You should try it sometime."  
Javik's eyes narrowed in a way that Shepard didn't think possible.  She was about to point it out when he interrupted her fascination.   
"I have my own methods of entertainment, Commander."  
"That is… slightly concerning, Javik."  Shepard's mind filled with horrifying images of what Javik could possibly do for 'entertainment.'  Shivers ran down her spine.  
"Enjoy your day of merriment, Commander.  I hope for your sake that humanity doesn't suffer any great losses today."  Javik shook his head and walked away.  
"Well he's always a ray of sunshine, eh Commander?"  Joker's voice was a relief after Javik's tense presence.    
"You know Javik.  'Last of his species,' and whatnot."  
"Guy's a dick."  Joker laughed hysterically at his own comment and wiped a tear out of the corner of his eye.  
"Eggnog?" Shepard asked.  
"Eggnog!"  Joker confirmed with a cheesy grin and an emphatic nod.  "Chakwas knows her liquor, I'll give her that."  
"Chocolates is- Chak-was is..." Shepard was having trouble pronouncing words.  "Wow, yeah."  
"Yeah."    
They stood and looked at each other nodding in agreement at a conversation that neither of them could remember.  Shepard looked over Joker's shoulder at EDI and Legion, who were having a conversation about processing power, then across the room at Miranda and Jack, who'd come out to the ship for the occasion at an invitation Joker had sent out the day before.  The two were standing next to each other looking clearly sour, but their mouths were moving, so there was at least some level of conversation happening.  Probably angry conversation.  But still conversation.    
"Well, Commander," Joker said after a moment.  "I've got a girl to get back to."  He motioned to EDI.  It was Joker and EDI's first holiday together, which Shepard knew was a big deal for Joker.  "I've never had a girl to spend a holiday with.  I like it."  
"Don't waste it," Shepard said, giving Joker a soft nudge on the shoulder.  "Don't let anything get in your way.  Not today."  
"Thanks, Commander."  Joker turned and made his way back to EDI.  Shepard stood and quietly and watched as Joker took EDI's hands in his and kissed her on the cheek.  To her left, Liara and Traynor were getting a bit closer against the med bay's windows.  To her right, she thought she saw Jack actually laugh at something Miranda had to say.    
This was her family.  They were broken, all of them.  Individually they were shards held together by the most fragile of threads, but together they were whole.  They found completion in each other, each one lifting the next one up when they needed it.  This is what she'd built, what she'd have to show for her time in this galaxy when all was said and done.  These people were her legacy, and that- that was worth celebrating.  That was a legacy she could be proud to leave behind.  Shepard couldn't help but smile.    
The sudden touch of a hand on the small of her back told her that Thane was no longer watching from afar.  
"You seem happy, Siha," he said quietly as he took his place beside her, resting his hand on her waist.   
"I am," Shepard replied simply, leaning her head against his shoulder.  "They seem-"  
"Yes."  He pulled her closer and she snaked her arms around his middle.  
"Thank you for coming.  It means a lot," she said.  "More than I can tell you."  Her hand traced the bright red scar down the center of his chest, a healing wound which had allowed access to his damaged lungs.  They were still damaged, of course.  Without a full transplant, there was no way to reverse or cure the damage which had been done, but it was slowed at the very least.  Thane would have time.   
Shepard's time, however, was coming to a close.  She'd already died once, and by some miracle (or by the will of an incredibly brilliant team of scientists) she'd been given another chance.  No one could cheat death twice, not even the great Commander Shepard.  She didn't expect to live beyond the final fight with the Reapers.  And if she did- what then? She'd have Thane, of course, but could she really expect to integrate back into society?  
"You're doing it again," Thane said.  
"What?"  
"Thinking."  
"Thanks."  
"Thinking negatively," he corrected.  Thane's free hand reached up to push Shepard's hair out of her face.  He brushed her cheek softly with his thumb, cradling her face.  "Gunshots behind me.  Death.  Calls for help over abandoned radios.  Someone drawing closer.  Pushing me.  Challenging me.  The drive to beat her to my target.  To finish what I started."  His eyes closed for a few seconds, and when he opened again, Shepard was looking up at him, an unmistakeable flash of uncertainty in her eyes.  "You were never destined to be ordinary, Siha, just as I was not.  Do not fear the unknown."  
"Thane, I-" Shepard was cut off by an incredibly drunken Vega who had managed to climb onto the island in the middle of the kitchen.  
"'Ey, everybody, listen up!  Quiet down, pendejos, I want to say something!"  He paused for a few seconds while the room got quiet and everyone turned to look at him.  "First of all, Feliz Navidad!  Never thought I'd have an actual Christmas celebration on this boat.  Now, we all know that the Commander is terrible at two things: dancing, and delivering a speech that doesn't make you want to bust some heads open."  
"Hey now," Shepard called out from across the room.  
"Everyone knows it, Lola, don't fight it.  Anyway, we don't get a chance to say it often enough, but you matter to us, Commander.  You matter a lot.  We'd follow you to hell and back, even if just to watch your ass in that space suit."  Vega laughed, and then added quickly, "Just kidding, Krios."  
The Drell smirked, but Shepard felt his grip on her waist tighten ever so slightly, and Garrus stepped up to the island before Vega could continue.  
"What I think the Lieutenant is trying to say, Shepard, is that you don't have to do this alone."  Garrus always had such a suave presence.  "I know you well enough to know that you're going to insist on going solo, but you should know that we're all here for you.  One-hundred percent.  I've said it before, and I'll say it again: there's no one in the Galaxy I respect more than you.  First human Spectre in history, and in our hearts.  No offense to Alenko, wherever he may be."  
"To the Commander," Vega chimed in.  
"To Shepard," Liara added loudly, hanging off Traynor's arm.   
"To Shepard," the crew agreed.  
Yeah.  This was her family.  They were broken, all of them.  Individually they were shards held together by the most fragile of threads, but together they were whole.  And she wouldn't trade them for anything in the world.


End file.
